Kevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock
lol Russia’s federal censor has just prohibited the Russian news media from publishing interviews with Zelensky.
Zelensky just posted the whole interview.
Zelensky says Ukrainian forces are still in control of part of Mariupol. He’s told them they can retreat if they see a way to do so and survive, but the troops insist on remaining, until they can leave with their dead and wounded.
He says Moscow has refused to claim their dead. They’re just kids, says Zelensky. But Russia won’t move on this, apparently afraid of revealing the true number of soldiers dying in Ukraine. They’ve offered “[body] bags” not even fit for dead pets, he says.
He says whole suburbs around Kyiv and towns like Volnovakha have been razed to the ground. “No more homes. No more streets. We can’t even show these images to Ukrainians [they’re so awful].” Russia’s invasion has been brutal beyond imagination.
Zelensky says there’s been enormous disappointment in Russians and Russian society for the nation’s support for the war. It can’t be denied, though dialogue is still possible.
Zelensky endorses boycotts against Russian athletes, saying they’re instruments of the Kremlin whether they know it or not. Russian athletes should be made to feel uncomfortable for their state’s actions, he says.
Zelensky says he’s instructed Ukraine’s negotiators not to discuss any “de-Nazification” or “de-militarization,” rejecting these terms out of hand as vague and unacceptable.
Zelensky says Ukraine’s language policy has been discussed in negotiations, but Kyiv demands the same rights for the Ukrainian language in Russia as Russia demands for Russian in Ukraine.
Changing Ukraine’s national security posture would require a national referendum, which would take at least a year to arrange and conduct. Moscow doesn’t appreciate any of this, says Zelensky. Refugees would also be voting.
Nobody can guarantee Ukraine’s security while Russian troops still occupy Ukrainian soil. “Who’s going to do it? Johnson? Biden?” says Zelensky incredulously.
Any referendum is utterly impossible until Russian troops leave, otherwise it’s a repeat of the illegitimate nonsense that took place in Crimea in 2014.
Are there side negotiations going on outside the public spotlight? Zelensky says a lot of people are talking. Officially, unofficially. (He’s not really answering this question, leaving it open.)
This whole interview is happening in Russian, btw. (Zelensky occasionally turns to an aide off screen and asks how to say a Ukrainian word in Russian.)
Question: Moscow says Ukraine planned a preemptive attack against the Donbas. What’s Kyiv’s response?
Zelensky: Cmon, guys, this is fake.
Any documents produced by Moscow that claim Ukraine had such plans are 100% phony baloney.
Zelensky does a “Solovyov but not this one but that one.” There are so many (including one of the editors in this interview), but the infamous one is infamously the pro-Putin pundit and epic dirtbag. I love these jokes. Never gets old.
About the Snake Island soldiers: some died, some were taken hostage. (There’s been some confusion about what happened here, but this incident birthed the famous slogan “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.”)
Asked about Ukraine’s supposed secret bioweapons program, Zelensky says this is another Russian fake. Furthermore, he would never have approved such a ridiculous research program.
Ukrainians wouldn’t deploy such weapons even against their worst enemies, says Zelensky.
Zelensky says he never even considered sending troops into Donbas or Crimea because the loss of life would have been simply unacceptable. (Quite a difference from the decision making we’ve seen from Putin.)
LNR and DNR will likely seek annexation by Russia soon. What’s Zelensky think about this? Zelensky says it’s a question of legitimacy and legality. Russia doesn’t have it in these occupied territories.
Zelensky refuses to say anything about the dozen or so attempts on his life since the full-scale war began.
Appealing to Russians who live behind the “information curtain,” he urges these people to reach out to their friends and relatives in Ukraine to learn the truth about the war.
The war will end when Russians accept that this has been a catastrophe for the nation and for relations with their neighbors in Ukraine.
Adults today will never forgive what’s happened, but it’s still worth fighting for the children and future generations, says Zelensky.
Zelensky says there will be no retaking of Crimea by force. Ukrainians are sick of war and destruction. This isn’t a hoorah war; it’s a national tragedy.
Zelensky’s value for life is such a contrast to the way Putin speaks. Night and day.
Question: Why did Putin do all this?
Zelensky: Putin isn’t being strategic. That would mean planning five presidencies ahead. Putin has tried to achieve by force what can’t be. A grave error. God forgive him.